91pornԭ��

STUDENT STORIES

Study Abroad Spotlight: Chile

Rob Puszka (’17) has a global mindset and it’s something that he developed while studying abroad during his junior year at 91pornԭ��. “I first started thinking about studying abroad when I was a freshman, but I didn’t know where I wanted to go. Spain was a choice. So was London.” Thinking back on that first year he said “those were such stereotypical responses.” A political science major with a focus on international relations, Rob eventually ended up spending a semester in Valparaíso, Chile in South America. “One thing I knew,” he said, “was that I didn’t want to do anything that everyone else was doing. Therefore, Spain was not an option.”

It wasn’t until the spring of his sophomore year though when he was studying in DC for a semester that he really started considering again the possibility of spending a semester abroad. He learned about an at an Office of International Studies Education Abroad Fair. Chile had never even crossed his mind when he was thinking about a semester abroad, but he had studied Spanish and it made sense to continue.

He had a lot of ideas of what South America was and wasn’t before he departed from the U.S. and quickly realized that he would have to change how he thought, abandoning the misconceptions he had carried with him. “They drink Nescafé!” he exclaimed, saying how he thought he’d be in a place where they had flavorful, brewed coffee. “They’re also so engaged.” He talked about political discussions he had with his Chilean peers. “Kids my age are out going to lots of protests. Protests for students’ rights, educational rights, the cost of education. Everyone there is far more politically aware than here and they’re active about it.” While he stayed away from many of the protests such as the ones for workers’ rights and the rights of Chilean fishermen, he said the ones about students and education just piqued his curiosity too much. While the program provider (ISA) cautioned students to avoid protests, Rob said his culture professor encouraged them to go to try and understand how protests worked there.

This same professor was Rob’s favorite, though not necessarily for encouraging the students to attend protests. He said she helped tremendously with immersion and getting to know the culture, especially the ins and outs of Chilean Spanish, which is notoriously difficult for foreigners who have learned a more standard form of Spanish. The Spanish Rob learned at 91pornԭ�� was “completely different than what I experienced in Chile. It was almost like I had to relearn the language. It’s super slang heavy.”

The host family he spent the semester with was a big help too. The family he lived with had three sons, the youngest of whom was Seba, aged 23. They hung out together and Seba introduced Rob to other Chileans. Rob chose to live with a host family because he knew it would be better for immersion, both culturally and linguistically. Additionally, being with the host family and having them as “cultural interpreters” alleviated much of the anxiety Rob experienced in the first few days of being in country. They assisted with the transportation, teaching him how to use the metro and where to board the bus. They told him about what neighborhoods to visit and which ones to avoid. The host family’s house was only a 10-minute bus ride to the university where Rob studied. If he walked, it would take about 30 minutes along the coastal road. But Rob said the sea lions along that route were really smelly. The bus was deemed a better option.

"Regardless of where you go, you’re going to learn something, but go somewhere where people don’t usually go."

The city of Valparaiso is almost directly west of Chile’s capital city, Santiago. It’s a coastal city of about 250,000. The Pontificia Católica University where Rob studied was founded in 1928 and has a total enrollment of about 14,000 students. The ISA program there requires students to take at least four classes and there is ample selection. Rob took classes with a focus on language acquisition and Latin American international relations. Some were taught in Spanish and others in English. In terms extra-curricular activities, ISA gave them the option of engaging in activities at the university, but Rob spent much of his free time with new friends exploring Valparaíso and nearby areas.

Rob is now in his final month of his four years at 91pornԭ��. He said his experience in Chile “impacted him immensely.” He says he now wants to “learn things from different perspectives. I miss Chile and its activism and discussions. Here it seems that no one wants to be bothered. There, people my age, they’re engaged. I’m glad I now have that mindset and am much more engaged.” He said that in this senior year of classes at 91pornԭ��, he found himself more involved and asking more about topics, asking more of others’ opinions, looking at things in a different light.

As for what happens after graduation, Rob says he needs to continue traveling and to get more international experience before applying to graduate school. He is looking at the possibility of teaching in Colombia for a year, for the experience and to develop stronger language skills in Spanish. In terms of career goals, he says those haven’t changed. He still wants to eventually move to DC and engage in foreign policy work. What changed is how he’s pursuing his career is. He says now “I’m just better suited, more confident. Chile was a way of helping me get there, faster.”

Asked about some final thoughts on study in another country, he had this to say: “People need to go abroad. They just need to go. No matter your experience there, you'll get something out of it and you’re going to see things differently when you’re done. 91pornԭ�� is a cocoon and it’s good to break out of that and get out of your comfort zone.”

Photos above from top to bottom (all courtesy of Rob Puszka):
- Rob in La Campana National Park just outside of Valparaíso.
- Popular street art in Cerro Alegre, Valparaíso.
- The main building at Pontificia Católica University. 

Story by: Christian Sinclair